Pita Taufatofua hopes for Olympic miracle in third sport at Tokyo [1]
Thursday, July 22, 2021 - 22:38
By Eleanor Gee
Tonga’s world famous Olympic flag bearer, Pita Taufatofua, who joins Team Tonga, competing in Taekwondo in Tokyo 2020, is hoping for an Olympic miracle. He is also aiming for another spot in sprint kayaking at the games.
If he is offered a spot in kayaking, Pita confirmed to Matangi Tonga that he will be the first person in modern history to compete at three consecutive Olympics in three different sports.
“We weren't able to get to the qualifying event in Russia due to travel restrictions but we still have hope that there will be an Olympic miracle and I will be allowed to paddle,” he said.
Pita qualified for Tokyo by winning gold in the Taekwondo M+80kg event at a tournament in Australia on 29 February 2020, before COVID-19 restrictions started. He will compete in the +80kg event on Tuesday, 27 July starting at 10:00am (2:00pm Tongan time).
“It’s such a blessing just to have the opportunity to take Tonga once again to the world with the other amazing athletes from our little island,” he said.
He hopes to inspire youth with his achievements so far, representing Tonga in taekwondo in Rio 2016, in cross-country skiing at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018, and now in Tokyo.
“I’m looking forward to doing all I can to inspire the next generation of youth in Tonga to reach for their dreams. Praying that one day we will have a number of Olympians bringing back medals and more importantly great memories back to our island kingdom.”
Training in two sports
Pita’s training for taekwondo and sprint-kayak has been going well with the help of coach, Master Paul Sitapa, a former Taekwondo athlete from Tonga, who is now based in New Zealand.
Paul told Matangi Tonga coaching one Olympic sport is very hard.
“In coaching an additional sport of Kayak, I have doubled the work load and stretched my vessel to learn and try up-skill myself in this new sport.”
Leading up to the Olympics, Paul said they trained three times a day using “kayak training to benefit his upper body and taekwondo training for his lower body”. The third training session involved working on areas that needed improving.
“Sometimes we alternate Taekwondo and Kayak each day to prevent over training.”
“Many people think that this is crazy or impossible for anyone to accomplish and achieve. Maybe crazy ‘yes’. But we believe the impossibility can be possible.”
Flagbearer?
Pita was catapulted to fame and ‘broke the internet’ when carrying Tonga’s flag, bare chested and glistening in coconut oil, at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
He was the bare-chested flag bearer again at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, in freezing conditions.
This year, Tonga’s flagbearer has already been confirmed to be Taekwondo athlete, Malia Paseka, at the opening ceremony on 23 July.
But the question is whether Pita will make an appearance in his now famous traditional dress in Tokyo?
The only thing he said about it is: “Don’t miss the opening ceremony lol.”
Future plans
Pita is aiming to give back to Tonga to help youth get more involved in sports.
“My goal with the Olympics is to use my platform to help build free training facilities for the youth of Tonga. To bring back world class athletes and coaches from all sports to help our youth develop to an international level,” he said.
“On the sporting side, I will be pushing forward with our kayaking and canoe federation and our training towards world championships events.”
Since making a name for himself in the Olympics, Pita has become a UNICEF Pacific Ambassador.